speaking "to one another, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in their hearts unto the Lord;" from being mocked, despised, and hated, by those who, forgetting both heaven and hell, pass that day and the rest of their spare time, in “ rioting and drunkenness," and other worldly amusements. To this assertion you agreed, as a well-established fact; and we both came to the conclusion, that I was in no way responsible for such scandals, the cause of which lay in the sinful hearts of men.

'On the evening of which I now speak, we parted in peace and unity; and it was with the same feelings we repaired next morning to the church. I can assure you, that, animated by that charity which "believeth all things, hopeth all things," and which "thinketh no evil," our feelings towards you were of the most amiable and favorable nature. We beheld in you a brother, a faithful pastor, from whom we trusted to receive the blessed truths of the Gospel of love and peace. What then was our astonishment and grief, after a most edifying and instructive prayer, to hear words of blame and censure against them, "who reprove the disorderly, who exhort men to flee from the wrath to come." While the Lord, on the contrary, commands his children to put away the unfruitful works of darkness, assuring them that if they are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people," it is to the intent that they may show forth the glory of Him, who "hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light." It was easy to perceive that your discourse was only a string of bitter invectives against us; and agreed but ill, either with our conversation of the previous evening, or with the declarations of Scripture.

'Nevertheless, I will use my utmost exertions to remove this bad impression; and may I not venture to hope that you will not refuse to help me? for I

feel convinced that you have acted from imprudence, and not from any malignant feelings. Ah! if you had prayed to God with humility, if you had remembered that the Devil our enemy, "goeth about seeking whom he may devour," you would not have suffered yourself to be thus carried away. I am solely actuated by love for yourself, and those whom you have offended; and if in my grief, I venture to reproach you, I entreat you in the name of Christ to pardon me, for I do not forget, that I myself am a great sinner; that I myself have too often deserved reproaches, and that I constantly see cause to deplore my own weakness and want of faith.

'I will conclude, by begging you to pardon any thing I may have said inconsistently with Christian charity. I am not aware that I have expressed myself in an unbecoming manner, but I am not able to judge. You will doubtless find much incorrectness in my language, but being little accustomed to write, and attaching more importance to sentiments, than words; I trust you will on this occasion shew a kind indulgence towards me.'

This letter being the only document remaining relative to Neff's Mission in the Canton of Geneva, I shall, according to the rule I have imposed upon myself, abstain from any reflections of my own, and proceed to lay before the reader some letters which will bring the Missionary into another field. The first is but a fragment, and is as follows:

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Lausanne, 1820.

'The Lord seems to have opened a wide door in this Canton for the preaching of the Gospel; neither will it be shut, so long as prudence is exercised, and care is taken to agitate no secondary question, which, not

C

relating directly to salvation, might raise an alarm, and excite an apprehension of schism. But though it may be necessary to act thus prudently in a country where the Clergy are attached to orthodox doctrines, it is no less necessary to labour earnestly in order to awaken among the inhabitants a true and living faith.'

Here we see at the very beginning of his career, the wise and pious principles, by which Neff was governed throughout his labours. It appears to me, and I doubt not many of my readers will agree with me, that the documents relating to his Swiss Mission, are less interesting and instructive than those which refer to his labours in other places, more especially among the high Alps; and for this reason, I have somewhat abridged them. Nevertheless, I still think it would be a pity entirely to lose these monuments of Neff's youthful exertions; more especially since they are connected with the beginning of the religious revival in French Switzerland, and being written by Neff, will give a clear view of the principles and sentiments of that religious movement, which for a considerable time, excited such groundless terror. Let those who think themselves wise, remember, that they are partly indebted for their knowledge to the experience of others, and if in the following pages, we are tempted to blame the writer for giving way to enthusiasm, or laying down his own principles in too decided a manner, let us ask ourselves, if we do not too often fall into the opposite, and more serious error, of leaning to earthly wisdom, and listening to a counterfeit prudence, whose object is the advancement of our own personal interests.

'Locle, September, 8, 1820.

'I am now about to resume the extracts from my journal from the period at which I left off, that is to

say, the time of my visit to Morges. After having quitted our friend, I saw Madame C., who was in much anxiety respecting her great nephew, a catechumen of our dear brother Mallet, of Wufflens-laVille. I already knew this amiable young man, by his letters. He had been placed as a gardener at Vienna, in Austria; which gave me an additional interest in him. As a Christian, he never would enter into any of the odious intrigues of the servants of the great families; but resisted "the unfruitful works of darkness ;" and for this reason every one hated him, except a Vaudois servant, who had himself, to all appearance, come to the knowledge of the truth. His mother too, who lived in the same place, and who judges after man's judgment, complained bitterly of him in her letters; but neither Madame C. nor M. Mallet were deceived by this, knowing full well why he was condemned. The letters of this young man were most instructive. Madame C. had not lately received any when I saw her; but she had heard from other quarters, that he was about to return to Vienna; and she feared that he might have been guilty of some faults. A man however arrived from Wufflens, bringing a letter from him, explaining his reasons for returning. This letter almost brought tears to my eyes; its simplicity, humility, and devotion, were so touching. The peasant, who is a relation of his, told us, that M. Mallet had received one still more affecting; that having assembled all the young people of the native town of the young man, whose name is G., he read it to them, and having prayed for him, with them, he had afterwards exhorted his young audience themselves. What a little Eden is this Wufflens.

'I quitted Morges, the evening of the 20th September, proceeding to Lausanne, were I arrived between eight and nine o'clock at night. The inns being full, and not knowing where to pass the night, I went to the house of B. where I was kindly re

ceived. Having conversed and prayed together, I retired to rest. The next day, I saw the Institutor, a friend of Pyt, and some other people, and on the 22nd I went with M. le Ministre B., to the house of M. le Conseiller Chavanne, in order to obtain a certificate of permission to visit Moser.* We then returned to the house of M. B., whose younger brother, the minister of V. had arrived. I was delighted to see him, for he seems to me to be a man, who in the true, evangelical sense of the word, is at enmity with the world, confessing that at the time he loved the world, he was no Christian. I hope that if he is consistent with his principles, he will do much good at V., where he has been but a short time. I mentioned to him and M. B., the conversion of Moser, and we all three went directly to see him. Neither of my companions had ever seen him; we were all pleased by his conversation: though he already seems less ardent than at first, but this may perhaps arise from his being cut off from communication with other Christians, and from the outward means of grace. We exhorted him to watch and pray, lest he fall into indolence and indifference.

* As the name of Moser will appear from time to time in the Journals of Neff, I will give some account of him. Moser was a young man who had served with Neff in the garrison of Geneva, and was loved and esteemed by all who knew him. When he returned home, however, he had taken to duels, and once had a scuffle with a man whom he killed. Happily, he fell into the hands of a pious and enlightened judge, who allowed Neff to visit the criminal. Moser gave his friends reason to hope that he was a deep and sincere penitent, and as far as man could judge he was looked upon as a true convert. The case being attended with some extenuating circumstances, he was only sentenced to ten years imprisonment, during which time his religious sentiments seemed to grow stronger and stronger. But I owe it to truth to say, that there is every reason to fear, that he fell from that spiritual state, in which his Christian friends had so long rejoiced. I mention this as another proof of the danger of judging of our real state by what we may have been, or have appeared to be; for "he that endures unto the end, the same shall be saved," and be alone.